Tonic and Ginger Fremantle

Tonic and Ginger Fremantle Review

Tonic and Ginger in Fremantle is a real find. Part of the complex known as the Old Synagogue, Tonic and Ginger serves excellent Southeast Asian fusion food.

The heritage-listed building itself is lovely. It served the Fremantle Jewish community until around 1910 when apparently the majority of its congregation decided to move to Perth. Since then it has been used as part of the Fremantle hospital, as an auction house and a clothes outlet before it’s present incarnation.

Soaring ceilings inside Tonic and Ginger are cleverly maximized by dangling lights and enhanced by the minimalist, clean décor and brickwork. The restaurant can seat 150 people over two levels.

We brought two friends who don’t normally go for this type of food and I am happy to say they loved the experience.

The menu at Tonic and Ginger is split into sections: Bites, Grazing and Feast. The dishes are meant for sharing. A Feed Me option is also available for $58 per person – this is the chef’s choice of dishes across the menu including a dessert platter.

Our friends opted for the Szechuan spiced duck spring rolls (2) with black pepper vinegar ($10) from the Bites section and a Feast dish each – Chicken Satay in a spring onion pancake with baby corn and shallots ($32) and Seared WA snapper with a prawn and fennel salad and oyster sauce ($34).

My husband and I shared three dishes – Pork and chive dumplings (2) with sweet and sour sauce ($7) from the Bites menu, Char Sui spiced pork san choi with crispy shallots ($19) and Firecracker cauliflower with bang bang sauce and chilli peanuts ($16) from the Grazing menu. The spring rolls were large and very tasty as were the chicken satay and seared snapper. Possibly too much food for senior appetites!

The pork san choi bao was brilliant – served with lettuce leaves, enough spice to make it interesting and very well put together –I could have eaten much more of this dish. The pork dumplings were average and blander than we would have liked but the whole cauliflower served was excellent.

The servers were good – helpful and friendly especially the French waiter – flirting- even with two ladies of advanced age – is obviously part of his national psyche but we did not object!

The Old Synagogue also houses:

The Arbor a beer and wine garden, serving modern Australian food caters for up to 500 people over three levels.

Mr Chapple serves small bites and craft drinks and is open for breakfast.

L’Chaim (a toast to life) is an intimate cocktail bar in the lower part of the building.

We will definitely be visiting again and maybe next time we will be more adventurous and try out the Feed Me menu.

Address: 92 South Terrace, Fremantle

Phone: 08 6370 4433

Reservations: Yes

Opening hours: Open seven days: 11:45 am until late

Gluten-free options: Yes

Vegetarian options: Yes

Restrooms: Main restrooms are downstairs and shared by other restaurants. There are two restrooms across from the bar. These are not suitable for wheelchairs. A ramp outside the restaurant takes wheelchair users to a lift to accessible restrooms.

Parking: Ticketed parking on Parry Street and a large ticketed car park behind the Old Synagogue.

Website: www.theoldsynagogue.com.au

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About the Author
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About Hazel Broomhead

My name is Hazel and I am a Perth senior!

Originally from Edinburgh in Scotland, my husband and I moved to New Zealand with our children in 1974. As my husband is in the oil business, we moved to several other countries including the Sultanate of Oman, the Netherlands, Singapore, the Philippines, the USA, Russia and Kazakhstan during the next 36 years before retiring to Perth.

We have six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren who live in different parts of the globe – New Zealand, Scotland and Colombia - which makes a great excuse for us to travel and visit.

My career background is in radio and print journalism in Scotland and New Zealand as well as public relations in various other countries.

We love to eat out, walk, travel and enjoy the wonderful lifestyle here in Western Australia.